Of Classy Girls and Paint Explosions
by Storm Clouds and Stars
Summary: Two dates Nick Miller has at the bar with two very different girls lead him to realise he's just not the kind of guy that dates classy girls. Instead, just one girl with blue eyes and paint smudges on her nose. Nick/Jess.


**Of Classy Girls and Paint Explosions**

**I have three oneshots written because of my ridiculously good New Girl mood at the minute, due to that freaking perfect kiss! They'll be the death of me, I swear. Also I have half of my multi-chapter written, so I'm going to work on completing all of that before I post it, so I don't procrastinate too much and leave all you guys hanging! So much motivation flowing at the minute. This is based off the song Classy Girls by The Lumineers, so yeah. Ecoutez? Merci. **

**Just in case any of you want to know, I've been listening to Justin Bieber's acoustic Believe album while I wrote this, ahem. Yes, I'm ashamed of myself.**

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Two dates Nick Miller has at the bar with two very different girls lead him to realise he's just not the kind of guy that dates classy girls. Instead, just one girl with blue eyes and paint smudges on her nose.

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**Saskia**

The woman in front of him was beautiful, and way out of his league. That was the first thought that came into Nick's head as his eyes devoured the figure in front of him, a blind date set up by Schmidt. She had dark blue eyes and red lips, a deep red dress clung to every curve and she glittered everywhere with diamonds, they twined around her neck, on her fingers, a few even weaved into her long blonde hair, shining like artificial stars. Numbly Nick gaped at her, noting how horribly she clashed with the dull, cracked paintwork of the walls of the bar. The plain blue checked flannel (his fancy flannel, as Jess called it) suddenly itched on his skin. Nick gulped heavily. She raised a hand to Nick's face and he stared at it, unsure of what to do while she stared at him with waiting eyes. Quickly Nick realised that she was supposed to kiss it, and feeling kind of like he'd just stepped into one of those British period dramas Jess liked to watch on TV, pressed his lips onto her skin.

"I-I'm…"

"Nicholas, I know. Shall we sit?"

**xXx**

"You like that?" Nick asked, gesturing to the drink in her hand, and she shrugged nonchalantly, flipping her platinum blonde hair over her shoulder in a bored manner and sighing. The grip Nick had on his bar cloth tightened slightly.

"It's okay, I suppose, I've had better." She drew the glass up to eye level and dipped a long red fingernail in the effervescent red syrup, twirling it around slightly, and Nick cursed as he found himself getting more and more agitated at her actions. It was a god damn Shirley Temple for goodness sake, what was she expecting, her touch to turn it into champagne, as Midas to gold? She set the glass on the table and turned to look at him, a whimsical smile on her face.

"Oh, Nicholas," It bothered him that she used his full name, and he wasn't exactly sure why, "The bars in Paris, they were just exquisite! Le Oiseux and Le Haricot Verte, the most divine drinks and just along the River Seine…" Her pompous spiel continued endlessly, and instead of listening, Nick decided to tune out her voice and just appreciate how soft she was, how the curves of her body moved as she breathed… No, Nick, stop. Your Ma raised you better than this. Nick scolded himself as he tried futilely to reconnect with her rapid conversation.

"…Oh, and the macaroons were just sublime…"

Macaroons. Jess made macaroons once. Pink ones and yellow ones, he remembered fondly. He refused to eat them at first purely because of how girly they looked and it ended up with a furious argument between the two resulting in Nick stuffing like five in his mouth at once just to prove she was wrong. The smug look on her face as he savoured the unexpectedly pleasant taste made him turtle face, but then the pair spent the rest of the afternoon laid out of the couch devouring Jess' mountain of homemade macaroons and watching When Harry Met Sally… Jeeze, Nick, focus!

She was still talking, her blonde hair rippling down her back, drink abandoned just to the left of her.

"You know, you still haven't told me your name yet." Nick interjected as she paused to take a breath. Her cold blue eyes blinked. Once. Twice.

"I'm Saskia." She said coolly, the lifeless tone once again returning to her voice. Nick sighed heavily.

**xXx**

"Well, thank you, Nicholas. Tonight has been… pleasant. I'm sure I shall be seeing you soon." Relief coursed through Nick's veins at her dismissal, mentally pressing pause at the movie he'd been playing in his head to try and drown out Saskia's incessant monotonous droning. She slipped off her bar stool and stifled a yawn as Nick moved to embrace her, to kiss her on the cheek as a good night gesture. Immediately she raised a hand and effectively halted him in his path, her already solemn expression souring.

"Classy girls don't kiss in bars like this." Her freezing words resonated numbly in his ears, and Nick snapped like a rubber band, her final statement acted as its breaking point. Her eyes were still cold, her stance still forced, and, Nick was quite sure, she still thought she was better than him. He didn't have much in life; his credit score was so bad a hobo would probably sob at it, he still shared an apartment with three other people, but Nick Miller was a proud man. He was proud of the bar he basically ran, with its squeaky chairs and sticky floors that Saskia obviously thought very little of, and it was just enough to tip him over the edge.

"Hey, Saskia!" He shouted at her retreating figure, and she tilted her head to him in an elegant fashion, lifting one of her perfectly arched brows slightly in question.

"Don't bother calling. Dudes like me don't do second dates with classy girls." The bows of her rouged lips tightened into a sour line as she gave a sweeping look of disdain over his flannel clad figure. Nick sunk deep into a low, sarcastic bow, hoping she'd get the message. He looked up just as she was leaving, catching a final glimpse at the back of her perfectly preened head, just as it disappeared out of the bar door, hopefully forever.

"I will never let Schmidt set me up again." Nick muttered angrily under his breath, shaking his head wearily.

**xXx**

**Jessica**

It was really late and Nick definitely hadn't expected to see her. She'd told him that morning of the dioramas her class had been making of the solar system for their science project as she made him breakfast, and that she'd probably have to stay late at school most nights getting materials ready and stuff. So when she walked into the bar, rumpled with messy hair and her big black frames slipping halfway down her nose, he grinned, an odd feeling of lightness taking over him.

"Hey," She grinned, slipping into the bar seat in front of him and resting her head on her arms, big blue eyes gazing up at him. There was a smudge of paint on the end of her pretty little nose and Nick reached out a thumb to lightly wipe it away, laughing amusedly as she crossed her eyes to attempt to watch his action.

"Hey Jess," Nick smiled dumbly at her, always struck by her presence, "What you doing here? I thought you were busy tonight." Jess traced little patterns on the bar surface with her finger as she sipped happily on a drink he'd made for her. Pink and fizzy, just as she liked it.

"I got home and it was way too quiet without you there. My bed is simply too cold without your rather warming presence, Nicholas." Jess' words are warm as she blushed slightly at her unusually bold statement, as she bit lightly on her lip in a cheeky manner. Nick flashed her a crooked grin which she returned, as a happy silence settled between them, just being comfortable in one another's company.

Nick made her up a plate of sandwiches which were left over from the lunchtime rush after she tells him that she hadn't had time to eat anything since breakfast. As she nibbled on them she told him of her day, of one of her student's dioramas that had blown up and covered half the class in paint, meaning she had to stay late to get everything cleaned up. He finds that he's quite transfixed by her, by the way she gestures animatedly as she enthusiastically tells her tale, how her eyes sparkle with passion as she talks about her work, the way her husky tone gets so tired it gets even lower, so her voice breaks sometimes and she has to stop to sip at her drink to replenish it.

It's an unusually quiet night at the bar, so Nick finds that he's able to spend most of it with Jess. He holds her hands across the wooden surface, rubbing his thumbs in concentric circles on her wrist as he leans to whisper sweet nothings in her ear. Jess gets progressively sleepier and sleepier and she rests her hands on her arms, blinking her wide blue eyes furiously to keep them open.

"Jess, sweetie, maybe you should head home. I'm on late tonight and you've got an early start tomorrow." Nick murmured to her, stroking the soft brown waves of her hair.

"'M fine." Jess slurred sleepily, cursing as her body betrayed her words. Nick chuckled at her fatigued state.

"Jessica." Nick reprimanded.

"Nicholas." Jess sat up straight and crossed her arms defiantly across her body, like a petulant child.

"Go to bed baby. I'll be home soon." The term of endearment seemed to of melted Jess' resolve, as she sighed, collecting her things together and getting up from her bar stool.

"See ya later." Jess smiled tiredly, turning to head out of the door. Nick watched as she left, admiring the way she seemed to light up even the dull walls of the bar. He's oddly stuck by the memory of Saskia, of the way her fierce beauty seemed to dull everything in comparison to it. But Jess, however, worked quite the opposite. Still as beautiful, she radiated light instead of hoarding it to herself, making the whole world she was stood in glow that little bit brighter when she was in it.

"Nick." He started from his reverie as he noticed that Jess had reappeared, but before he could open his mouth to tell her to go the hell home already, she'd wrapped her arms around his neck and brought his face down to meet hers, crashing their lips together forcefully. The world went blissfully blurred as he kissed her, felt her soft curves under his fingertips, her tongue move sensually against his own. He backed her up slightly so she was pressed up against the bar, just as she removed her lips from his, grinning at his dazed expression.

"You don't expect me to go to bed without a good night kiss, did you Nicholas?" Jess winked at him whilst elbowing and imaginary person next to her, and Nick groaned at her dorkiness. She only smiled.

Nick watched her figure retreat once again from the bar, his body still humming from the feeling of her lips. He wondered briefly if he would stop feeling the way he felt when he kissed her, like the world melted away and time froze and millions of damn fireworks exploded behind his eyelids. Probably not, he reasoned.

It's Jessica Day, after all.

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**Review, my darlings? Thank you for all the lovely feedback from Aftershocks, you made my day! I hope that this was just a refreshing little change from the onslaught (that I am very grateful for, may I add) of post-kiss fics that have been popping up over the few days. Thank you!**


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